Apparatus and method for severing fleece from a sheep pelt



o. 1'. R EISE 3,535,744

APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR SEVERING FLEECE FROM A SHEEP FELT Oct. 27, 19702 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 15, 1969 Jm/mtor @alm @156 Oct. 27, 1970 o.r. REISE 3,535,744

APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR SEVERING FLEECE FROM A SHEEP PELT 7 Filed Jan.13. 1969 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 1 MM 10%, MW 1 w aztorwga 3,535,744 APPARATUSAND METHOD FOR SEVERING FLEECE FROM A SHEEP PELT Owen T. Reise, 2336 W.Green Tree Road, Milwaukee, Wis. 53209 Filed Jan. 13, 1969, Ser. No.790,729 Int. Cl. D01b 3/00 US. Cl. 19-2 13 Claims ABSTRACT OF THEDISCLOSURE Disclosed herein is apparatus and a method for severmg thewool fleece from sheep pelts which include an air pervious conveyor beltfor transporting pelts to an endless belt knife which is located at abend in the conveyor. The pelt is held firmly to the bend by suctioncaused by a blower below the conveyor. As the pelt traverses the bendand engages the belt knife, a suction hood above the conveyor directsair flow to lift the wool fibers upwardly to facilitate cutting of thefibers. The air flow in the hood also pneumatically conveys the severedfleece to a transport conveyor which carries the fleece to an inspectionstation.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION The apparatus and method of the inventionrelates to the removal of wool fleece from the pelts of slaughteredsheep or lambs. Heretofore, the fleece has been either manually clippedfrom the skin or treated with a chemical and manually pulled. It isdesirable to remove the wool from a sheep skin in a fleece or one intactpiece to facilitate skirting or separation of the prime portions of thefleece from the less desirable portions. The prime wool generally comesfrom the shoulders and sides and is desirable because of its length,strength and color. Belly wool is shorter, often dirty, stained and mayhave vegetable matter adhering.

No apparatus has been developed in the art which successfully removes anintact fleece from a skin and which replaces the traditional manualmethods.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION The invention provides a method and apparatus forsevering or removing the wool from the pelt of an animal such as a sheepin one intact fleece and without damaging the skin. The method includesthe steps of bending the pelt to expose the base of the fibers,pneumatically lifting the fibers upward from the bent pelt and severingthe lifted fibers from the bent pelt. The method also includes theadditional step of pneumatically conveying the severed fleece from thecutting zone.

The apparatus includes an air pervious conveyor belt which transportsthe hides or skins containing the wool fibers to a cutting station andaround a bend, means for creating an air flow around the fibers to liftthem at the bend Where the wool is severed from the skin by a horizontalbelt cutting knife which travels transversely to the direction ofmovement of the air pervious conveyor belt. The knife engages the woolas the pelt and conveyor travel over a perforated curved nose whichsupports the end of the conveyor belt adjacent the cutting knife anddefines the bend traversed by the conveyor belt.

The undersurface of the skin is firmly held to the conveyor belt at thecutting station by a blower connected to the nose.

The upper run of the conveyor belt and upper wall of the nose aredesirably at an angle of three to six degrees relative to the horizontalplane of the cutting edge of the belt knife to provide clearance of thehide and skin be- United States Patent 3,535,744 Patented Oct. 27, 1970ice neath the cutting edge, and prevent jamming and bunch ing of thesevered fleece rearwardly along the conveyor.

To facilitate cutting of the matted fibers at a uniform distance fromthe skin, the fibers are drawn or lifted into an upstanding angularlyforward extending position by air flow directed by a hood whichpartially encloses the cutting zone. The hood is connected to a blowerwhich provides sufficient suction to both pull the fleece fibersvertically upward immediately prior to the cutting and also topneumatically convey the intact fleece from the cutting station to asecond transport conveyor which carries the fleece to an inspecting andskirting station.

It is an object of the invention to provide a method for severing thewool fleece from a sheepskin which replaces the manual methods.

A further object of the invention is to provide apparatus to sever afleece from a sheep pelt which results in increased production with aminimum of personnel and substantial cost savings.

An additional object of the invention is to provide apparatus fromremoving an intact fleece from a pelt, to facilitate separation of theprime wool from the less desirable wool.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparentfrom the following disclosure.

Drawings:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic illustration of apparatus in accordance withthe invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the cutting station and nose as shown inFIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view with portions brokenaway of a dirt trap.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Although the disclosure hereof is detailed andexact to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention, thephysical embodiments herein disclosed merely exemplify the inventionwhich may be embodied in other specific structure. The scope of theinvention is defined in the claims appended hereto.

Referring to the drawings, FIG. 1 shows apparaus in accordance with theinvention which is generally designated 10 and which includes a supportor frame 12 which is not further described or illustrated in detail.Pelts 14 from slaughtered sheep which contain both the wool fleece 15and the sheekskin 16 are introduced into the apparatus from a table orplatform 18 and fed through a pair of narrowly spaced rollers 20 and 22,which squeeze any remaining flesh and fats from the skin 16. The rollerscan be provided with tangentially aligned scrapers 21, 23 to clean therollers. The rollers 20 and 22 can be driven by a motor 24 through achain and a sprocket drive 26.

Conveyor means in the form of an open wire mesh or reticulated airpervious conveyor belt 30 is provided for transporting the pelts 14 to acutting station 28. The conveyor belt 30 is supported at its peltreceiving end by a roller 32 which is connected to a motor (not shown)by a chain and sprocket drive 34.

Means are provided for supporting the pelt delivery end of the conveyorbelt 30 adjacent the cutting station 28 to cause the pelt to traverse asharp bend 29 at the cutting station and for holding the pelt 14 firmlyto the conveyor. In the disclosed construction the means includes aforaminous nose 36 which is located between the upper and lower runs 38and 40 of the conveyor belt 30 and which includes an elongated generallyflat upper wall 42 which generally spans the width of the conveyor belt30 and an angularly extending lower wall 44 connected by an arcuate wallportion 46 (FIGS. 2, 3). The arcuate wall portion 46 desirably has arather small radius, such as three quarters of an inch, to provide asharp bend in the conveyor 30. The sides of the nose are enclosed by endwalls 47. The upper wall 42 and arcuate wall 46 are provided with aplurality of perforations or apertures 48 to secure the skin 16 to theconveyor by suction, as hereinafter described. In a practical embodimentof the invention, there are 425 three-eighth inch apertures in the nose36. Alternatively, an elongated slot extending transversely to theconveyor can be utilized.

The means for supporting the conveyor 30 and holding the skin 16 firmlyto the conveyor also includes a labyrinth type settling box or dirt trap50 (FIG. 3) which is supported by the frame 12. The dirt trap isdesirable to keep the passage between the nose 36 and a blower 67 freefrom foreign particles to maintain the desired suction for adhering theskin 16 to the conveyor belt 30 during the cutting operation ashereinafter described.

The dirt trap 50 (FIG. 3) includes top and bottom walls 51 and 52, apair of end walls 53, two rear walls 54, 55 (FIG. 1) and two front wallportions 55A and 56 which are spaced to provide a gap 57 through whichextends the lower run of the conveyor belt 30. As shown in FIG. 1, anidler roller 58 is provided to guide the lower run through gap 57. Thegap 57 is defined by upper and lower intermediate spaced partitions 59and 60 which extend from the front walls to the rear walls 54, 55 andare separated from each end wall 53 by gaps 61. The side edges ofpartitions 59 and 60 are connected by vertical partitions 62. Twoangularly connected baflies 63 and 64 interconnect the top wall 51 andthe upper intermediate partition 59 and extend from the front wall 56 tothe rear wall 54. The lower rear wall 55 is provided with an opening 66which communicates with a blower 67 (FIG. 1) through a duct 69. Thefront wall 55 is provided with several clean-out doors 70. The rear wall54 is also provided with clean-out doors 71. The top wall 51 isseparated from the upper edge 72 of the front wall 56 by a gap 73.

Connection of the nose 36 to the dirt trap 50 is facilitated by anoutwardly extending flange 74 at the upper edge 72 of the top wall 56.The nose 36 is bolted or otherwise secured to the trap 50 across the gap73. The gap 73 provides an air fiow path for air entering theperforations in the nose 36.

The blower 67 desirably provides a sub-atmospheric pressure or suctionin the nose 36. The air drawn into the nose 36 by the blower 67 followsthe path indicated by arrows 75 (FIG. 3). The air passes through thenose 36 and gap 73 and enters the area or trap portion 77 between thetop Wall 51 and the upper intermediate partition. The partitions 63 and64 deflect some of the air laterally toward the end walls 53 where itpasses through the gaps 62, below the lower partition 60 and through theoutlet 66. Dirt, fibers and other foreign particles that are drawn inthrough the nose 36 and accumulate in the trap portion 77 between theupper wall 51 and the upper partition 59 and can be removed by accessthrough door 71. Particles that accumulated below the lower partition inthe trap portion 79 can be removed through clean-out doors 70.

Vertical height adjustment of the nose 36 and the trap 50 is afforded bytwo vertical adjustment screws 78 which are provided with hand cranks 76and connected to the frame 12 on each side of the trap 50.

The invention also includes an endless belt splitting knife 80 at thecutting station 28 to sever the fleece 15 from the skin 16. The beltknife 80 is conventionally supported between two spaced wheels (notshown), one of which is driven by a motor (not shown). The upper run 83(FIG. 1) of the belt splitting knife 80 travels in a generallyhorizontal plane transverse to the direction of movement of conveyor 30.The belt knife 80 is continually sharpened by grinding wheels 84 locatedon the lower run 85 of the belt knife 80. The cutting edge 82 of theupper run 83 is located slightly below the upper run 38 of the conveyorbelt 30 and vertically above the arcuate wall 46 4 which forms the bendof the nose 36 at the point 86 a short distance from the commencement ofthe bend 29 in the conveyor 30.

The upper wall 42 of the nose and the top wall 51 (FIG. 2) of the dirttrap 50 can be at an angle A which is desirably from three degrees tosix degrees relative to a plane through the upper run 83 of the beltknife and cutting edge 82. An angle A of four degrees is preferred. Thisangle provides the desired slope of the upper run 38 of the conveyorbelt 30 to afford clearance of the skin 16 beneath the belt knife 80 andminimize jamming or bunching of the severed portions of the fleecerearwardly over the pelt 14 and away from the cutting edge 82.

The invention also provides means for pneumatically erecting or liftingthe wool fibers vertically upward at the cutting station to facilitatethe cutting of the fibers and also for pneumatically conveying thesevered fleece from the cutting station 28 to a second conveyor 88. Inthe disclosed construction, the means includes a hood 90 which islocated above the belt knife and bend 29 in the conveyor 30 and whichspans the width of the conveyor belt 30. The hood includes a top wall 92and an adjustable gate 94 and means in the form of a slot 94A (FIG. 3)in the wall 94 and a wing nut and bolt 95A (FIG. 3) for selective heightadjustment of the lower edge 95. The height of the lower edge 95 isadjusted for pelts having various length fibers to provide clearance ofthe tips of the fibers (FIG. 2). It is desirable to maintain the edge 95close to the tips to obtain an upward air flow in the hood as shown byarrow 96 (FIG. 1).

The hood 90 is connected to an air chamber 98 by an angularly extendingduct 100 which has angularly extending top and bottom walls respectively102 and 104 and parallel opposed side walls 106 which connect the topand bottom walls 102 and 104. The top wall 102 extends forwardly fromtop wall 92 of the hood. The bottom wall 104 forms a ramp which extendsfrom adjacent the cutting blade to adjacent the second conveyor belt 88at 110. The air chamber 98 has a generally box-like structure which hasa forward wall 114, a rear 'wall and side walls 116. The forward wall114 joins the wall 102 to form an opening 116A to afford communicationof the duct 100 with the air chamber 98. The rear wall has an air outlet117 at the top of the rear wall 115 connected to suction means in theform of a fan or blower 123. An air seal at the rearward end of thechamber 98 is provided by a foam rubber roller 118 'which is rotatablysupported about a horizontal axis 119 and which engages a rubber flap120 depending from the lower edge 121 of the rear wall 115. The roller118 permits movement of the fleece 14 from the air chamber 98 to aninspection station 122. The air flow created by the blower 123 isvariable and a flow of up to 4000 cubic feet of air per minute throughthe hood 90 is desirable.'A greater suction is undesirable since the airflow 'will pull the fleece apart. However, if the suction is too low,the fibers will not be pulled upwardly at the cutting station 28.

In operation of the apparatus of the invention and in practicing themethod, the pelt containing the fleece and sheepskin is fed through therollers 20 and 22 to press out or squeeze any flesh or fats from theskin 16. The rollers 20, 22 also flatten out the skin 16 so it will notbe damaged by the belt knife 80. The pelt is transported by the conveyor30 to the cutting station 28. As the pelt 14 enters the hood 90, thesuction created by the fan 123 causes the fibers to be drawn upwardly atan angle as shown in FIG. 2. The undersurface of the skin is held firmlyto the conveyor 30 by the suction created by fan 67. The cutting edge 82engages the fibers of the fleece 15 and severs the fleece as the skin 16traverses the bend 29 and as the fibers break from the skin 16. As thefleece 15 is severed it is pneumatically conveyed upwardly through thehood 90 and along ramp 104 onto the second conveyor 88. The skin 16drops downwardly below the belt knife 80 where it can be removed andpackaged. A

rotating kicker 130 (FIGS. 1, 3) can be provided to remove the skin fromthe conveyor belt 30. A ramp 132 (FIG. 1) can be provided to guide theskin 16 from the lower run of the belt knife 80.

When the fleece enters the enlarged air chamber 98 the decrease in airvelocity causes the fleece to be released from the air flow and carriedby the second conveyor 88 (FIG. 1) where it is transported under thecompressible roller 118 to the inspection station 122. The intact fleece15 can then be inspected for condition and the prime portions manuallyskirted from the poor quality portions and the various grades separated.In the alternative, the inspected fleeces can be conveyed directly to awool dryer, scouring train or containers.

The apparatus of the invention can process pelts where the fibers rangefrom one-fourth inch to twelve inches in length. The belt knife 80 canalso be provided with means for vertical height adjustment to affordselection of the length of the stubble of fibers remaining on the skin.

Various of the features of the invention are set forth in the followingclaims.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for removing the fleece from animal pelts comprisingcutting means for cutting the fleece in an intact unit from the skin,said cutting means having a transversely moving cutting edge, conveyormeans for transporting the animal pelts to said cutting means, saidconveyor means being spaced from said cutting edge to provide a gapwhich receives the skin for removal of the skin from said cutting edge,means adapted to hold the animal skin to said conveyor means as thefleece is cut from the skin, a bridge located adjacent said cuttingedge, and pneumatic means for sliding the severed fleece along saidbridge away from said cutting means and forwardly of the conveyor meansand along the longitudinal centerline of the conveyor means.

2. Apparatus in accordance with claim 1 wherein said conveyor meanscomprises an air pervious conveyor belt 'with upper and lower runs andsaid means adapted to hold a skin to said conveyor belt comprises anelongated nose having an arcuate wall, a plurality of perforations insaid arcuate wall, and means for mounting said nose between the upperand lower runs of said conveyor with said arcuate 'wall in supportingrelation to the upper run of said conveyor and causing a bend in saidconveyor, and suction means connected to said nose and communicatingwith the undersurface of a skin through said perforations and saidconveyor belt for holding a skin to said conveyor belt during movementof said conveyor belt around the bend in said conveyor.

3. Apparatus for removing the fleece from animal pelts comprisingcutting means for cutting the fleece in an intact unit from the skin,said cutting means having a transversely moving cutting edge, conveyor'means for transporting the animal skins to said cutting means, meansadapted to hold the animal skin to said conveyor means as the fleece iscut from the skin, said means adapted to hold the animal skin to saidconveyor including an elongated nose for supporting the forward end ofsaid conveyor means and means for mounting said nose between the upperand lower runs of said conveyor, said means for mounting said nose beingin the form of a dirt trap, said trap having an elongated transverselyextending gap for receiving therethrough the lower run of said conveyor.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 in which said trap includes spaced top andbottom walls, upper and lower partitions spaced from each other to forma first gap and spaced from the top and bottom walls, said first gapreceiving said lower run of said conveyor belt, end walls connecting thetop and bottom walls, an upper front wall extending upwardly from saidupper partition, said upper front wall terminating at a point spacedfrom said top wall to form a second gap, said nose being connectedacross said second gap, a lower front wall connecting said lowerpartition to said bottom wall, an upper rear wall connecting said upperpartition to said top wall, a lower rear wall connecting said lowerpartition to said bottom wall, an opening in said rear wall forcommunication with said suction means, vertical partitions connectingthe side edges of said upper and lower intermediate partitions, saidvertical partition being spaced from said end walls to provide third andfourth gaps for communication around the edges of said upper and lowerpartitions, clean-out doors in said lower front wall and said upper andlower rear walls, and means for mounting said trap on a support.

5. Apparatus for removing the fleece from animal pelts comprisingcutting means for cutting the fleece in an intact unit from the skin,said cutting means having a transversely moving cutting edge, conveyormeans for transporting the animal pelts to said cutting means, means forholding the animal skin to said conveyor means as the fleece is cut fromthe skin, a hood located over said cutting means and the forward end ofsaid conveyor means, said hood including a top wall which spans thewidth of said conveyor means, an air chamber located forwardly of saidconveyor means and said hood, a duct connecting said hood with said airchamber to afford communication between said hood and said air chamber,and suction means connected to said air chamber to cause the fibers of apelt located beneath said hood to extend in a generally erect positionfrom said skin, a second conveyor, said second conveyor having an upperrun with a portion of said upper run being located within said airchamber and forming the bottom of said air chamber, said air chamberhaving a substantially larger volume than said hood and said duct toafford a decrease in air velocity Within said air chamber to deposit thefleece on said second conveyor after the fleece is conveyed through saidduct by suction.

6. Apparatus for removing the fleece from animal pelts comprisingcutting means for cutting the fleece in an intact unit from the skin,said cutting means having a transversely moving cutting edge, conveyormeans for transporting the animal skins to said cutting means, saidconveyor means being spaced from said cutting edge to provide a gapwhich receives the skin for removal of the skin from said cutting edge,means adapted to hold the animal skin to said conveyor means as thefleece is cut from the skin, a hood located over said cutting means andthe forward end of said conveyor, an air chamber, a duct connecting saidhood to said air chamber, said duct including a bridge extending fromadjacent said cutting edge to said air chamber, said hood including agate with a free lower edge located above said conveyor means, means onsaid hood connected to said gate for selective height adjustment of saidgate to control air flow into said hood and to provide clearance of thepelts beneath said lower edge and suction means connected to said airchamber to cause the fibers of a pelt located beneath said hood toextend in a generally erect position from said skin.

7. Apparatus in accordance with claim 6 wherein said air chamberincludes a conveyor having an upper run forming the bottom of said airchamber and one end of said upper run of said conveyor extending toadjacent said bridge.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein said air chamber has a rear wallwhich has an edge spaced from the upper run of said conveyor in said airchamber, and a compressible roller mounted for movement about ahorizontal axis and engageable with said upper run of said conveyer insaid air chamber and said edge of said rear wall to seal said airchamber from the atmosphere and afford movement of said upper run andfleece on said conveyor beneath said roller and past said rear wall.

9. Apparatus for removing fleece from animal pelts comprising a firstconveyor for transporting animal pelts to a cutting station, a fleececutter at said cutting station,

a second conveyor spaced forwardly of said first conveyor, a bridgelocated between said first and second conveyors to provide asubstantially continuous surface between said conveyors, means adaptedto hold the animal pelt to said first conveyor at said cutting station,and pneumatic means for erecting the fibers of the pelt at the cuttingstation and for pneumatically conveying the intact severed fleece alongsaid bridge to said second conveyor.

10. Apparatus for removing fleece from animal pelts comprising firstconveyor means for transporting the animal pelt to a cutting station,second conveyor means, an endless belt cutting knife located at theforward end of said first conveyor means and at said cutting station,means adapted to hold the animal pelt to said first conveyor means atsaid cutting station, a downwardly open hood located over said cuttingstation, said hood including a top wall spanning the width of said firstconveyor means, a duct connected to said hood, said duct including a topwall which extends from the said top wall of said hood, and side wallswhich extend from said top wall, a bridge extending between said cuttingknife and said second conveyor means and connected to said side walls ofsaid duct, and pneumatic means for providing an air flow in said hood toerect the fibers of a fleece and for conveying the severed fleece alongsaid bridge to said second conveyor means.

11. The method of severing fleece from the pelt of an animal comprisingthe steps of moving a pelt along a conveyor while holding the peltfirmly by suction, cutting the fibers from the skin in the form of anintact fleece, and pneumatically conveying the intact fleece beyond theconveyor with the natural orientation and position of the prime portionsof the fleece maintained with respect to the inferior portions.

12. The method of severing fibers from the pelt of an animal inaccordance with claim 11 including the additional step of delivering thefleece to an inspection and skirting station for skirting the primeportions of the fleece from the inferior portions of the fleece.

13. The method of severing fleece from the pelt of an animal inaccordance with claim 11, including the step of bending the pelt,erecting the fibers at the bend and wherein the fibers are cut from theskin while said pelt is bent.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 978,217 12/1910 Ryan l9-21,278,537 9/1918 Wegner. 1,895,843 1/1933 Boyd 26--15 XR 2,143,4221/1939 Plass 19--2 2,387,579 10/1945 Griflin et al. 26-15 FOREIGNPATENTS 628,031 6/ 1927 France.

1,482 1890 Great Britain. 668,004 3/1952 Great Britain.

DORSEY NEWTON, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 69--25 UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 5,535 71m Dated October 7,97

Inventor(s) Owen T Reise It is certified that error appears in theabove-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are herebycorrected as shown below:

Column 4, Line 37, or bridge should be inserted between the words "ramp"and "which" W332i h'fi'i) Jul:

mmnmmh mm x.

Attesting Officer '-Z a. Oomissioner of Pam

